It’s that time of the year when many people make New Year’s resolutions that we know probably won’t stick beyond a couple of weeks; however, we go through the same motions each year. For some people, this can lead to unhappy thoughts and unhealthy behaviours as promises to improve are broken and we resort back to our “normal” activities. For some people, these thoughts can become overwhelming and cause severe anxiety and other problematic health issues. In the end, making New Year’s resolutions that we know are going to be broken can lead to disappointment leaving a person feeling unhappy and even depressed which can deteriorate a person’s state of mental health.

From the major construction work outside of Misericordia Health Centre, it is obvious that big changes are underway. Once renovated, the complex will house expanded community programs, including the four flagship programs not offered anywhere else in Manitoba: the Buhler Eye Care Centre, Provincial Health Contact Centre, Sleep Disorder Centre and Urgent Care Centre, plus the Ambulatory Diagnostic Centre and a new, one-stop health care centre for seniors called PRIME.

Introducing centralized system presents people challenges

Every year, more than 15 million diagnostic tests are ordered from Manitoba’s public sector — and that’s not including an additional eight to 10 million tests conducted in private facilities.

“Eighty-five per cent of all medical decisions are based on some kind of lab or medical imaging result,” says Jim Slater, CEO of Diagnostic Services of Manitoba (DSM), the non-profit corporation responsible for delivering public laboratory and rural diagnostic imaging services supported by over 1,500 professionals at 79 sites.

According to the Global Health Council, more than 9.5 million people die every year from infectious diseases. Millions more die from secondary causes related to those diseases.

The International Centre for Infectious Diseases (ICID) in Winnipeg develops solutions that target infectious diseases by improving disease-prevention strategies; enhancing biosafety and biosecurity in labs, hospitals and communities; and commercializing innovative products for public health practice.

“If you take a look at an infectious disease such as HPV (human papillomavirus), that disease has been linked to cervical cancer and other cancers as well,” says John Borody, the non-profit organization’s CEO. “By tackling HPV, the occurrence of cancer can be reduced as well.”

By definition, the campus of the Health Sciences Centre is a city unto itself, with nearly 15,000 people working, visiting or staying there as a patient on any given day. That makes chief operating officer Adam Topp the “mayor” of Manitoba’s largest hospital.

“I work for the 7,000 people who work here,” says Topp, who is also COO of Grace Hospital and oversees regional programs such as diagnostic imaging, child health, clinical engineering, respiratory therapy and transport for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.